By Style

By Style

Malay

Lesung Batu Cafe

Everyone has their own version of nasi lemak. At Lesung Batu, they steam the rice with fenugreek and lemongrass alongside pandan and cooks their sambal slowly and lovingly. You can pair it with a bright sambal kerang or the house special, lidah (tongue) goreng kunyit...

Lesung Batu Cafe

Kids

Air Conditioned

Address

Open

8am- 11pm

Pros

Consistent food and you can leave with a jar of their excellent acar too!

Cons

A little hidden away

Price Range

RM5- RM30

Parking

Easy

Certification

Muslim Owned

I must confess I was seduced by a picture of sambal kerang on social media one day which led me to try the nasi lemak at Lesung Batu. Jasmeen who runs the place and is pretty much a wizard in the kitchen herself serves mainly Malay-Patani food like tomyum and daging merah. Their specialty here is the lidah goreng kunyit. That’s fresh cow’s tongue, boiled, sliced thinly then fried crispy. Wowsers it’s good, firm outside but still a little soft within.

The very delicious lidah goreng kunyit

“We had people asking us, what lidah it is, of course it's cow's tongue...” laughs Jasmeen. “Both me and my husband love lidah so we did our own research and come up with the recipe.” So recently they introduced it with their nasi lemak. The nasi lemak itself is a family recipe from her late grandmother. Within the fragrant rice they use fenugreek, red onions and lemongrass in addition to pandan and ginger. This gives the rice a nicer aroma.

Fragrant rice, good sambal and sides with oomph- a solid nasi lemak

This goes a treat with the sambal, a good, full-bodied concoction with a touch of sweetness. Other dishes on offer are a bright sambal sotong, crimson with fresh squid rings, ayam goreng berempah and the seductive sambal kerang. The sambal kerang lived up to it's picture, it tastes absolutely fresh with a simple dry sambal.

The secret of their sambal is they cook the base properly. This is simmered for a long time until it’s dark and caramelized and they use gula Melaka for a deeper flavour. For the lidah, they boil it first and then slice it thinly (this is key), marinate it with turmeric and fish sauce among other things and then deep-fry it with vegetables. It’s crispy on the outside and a little chewy inside, salty from the fish sauce with a great texture.

The cucur here is also pretty kick ass

Other things that are popular here are their ikan kembung set, sup cendawan, tomyum sotong and nasi goreng seafood. And they make a killer cucur jagung too. So even if you’re not in the mood for nasi lemak, there are plenty of delicious things here to sink your teeth into. Lesung Batu also does bottled dendeng and acar. Their signature is a salted kurau and sundried tomato acar that we can't get enough of. You can probably pick up a bottle when you go and eat here.

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